Sebastian Lletget acknowledged to taking just a moment to himself before stepping onto the StubHub Center field last week.

For some, coming on as second-half substitute wouldn’t be anything special, just another day in the life of a soccer player.

For Lletget, it meant a little more since it was his first regular-season action since last March.

Lletget suffered a Lisfranc injury to his left foot during a U.S. men’s national team World Cup Qualifier, and eventually underwent three surgeries and then hours and months of rehab.

That’s why last week’s 18-minute appearance meant so much to him.

“I had been dreaming about it for a long time,” Lletget said. “It has been almost a year now. I’ve been working hard. I hadn’t stopped since the actual injury. It has been a long time, but it felt great to be out there.

“It was hard not to be wrapped up in all of the emotion. I think I just had to treat it like it another day, which is weird. … It was actually very difficult for me. Going up to the halfway line and (Galaxy coach) Sigi (Schmid) patting me on the back telling me that I was going in, it was a crazy feeling, but I also had to keep it together and go in and do my job.”

Today, when the Galaxy face New York City FC, Lletget’s job might be expanded beyond the 18 minutes he played last week. Romain Alessandrini (right hamstring strain) is out. Chris Pontius and Joao Pedro are also not on the trip.

Emmanuel Boateng was bothered by a little nagging injury during the week, but is on the trip.

“It is never easy to lose a player like that,” Lletget said. “If I have to fill in, even though it is probably ahead of our plan, they wanted to ease me in as far as minutes go, but if I’ve got to do, thankfully, I have prepared myself for this type of situation, so I definitely think I can do the job.”

Schmid said during the preseason the team didn’t want to rush Lletget into a full 90 minutes. He added this week that Lletget is “raring to go.”

“I think it depends on the game and how I feel that week,” Lletget said. “Honestly, everything has been super positive, it has been working. I think we just didn’t want to go away from our road and our set plan and schedule.

“Even though soccer isn’t black and white, sometimes these things are going to happen with Romain coming out injured, but this is my job. I’m super happy to be back and I can’t wait if I have to start.”

Lletget picked up his first minutes in preseason, Feb. 4 and played 20 minutes.

“It has been an unbelievable journey,” he said of his road back. “Just getting back. It is this ongoing emotional game that your mind and body is telling you but I’m happy right now.”

L.A. GALAXY (1-0, 3 points) at NEW YORK CITY FC (1-0, 3 points)

Kickoff: 2 p.m. at Yankee Stadium

TV/Radio: Spectrum SportsNet; KTMZ/1220, KWKW/1330 (Spanish radio)

Update: NYCFC opened the season last week with a 2-0 win over Sporting Kansas City. Maxi Moralez and Jesus Medina scored the goals. Maxime Chanot (red card) will be miss today’s game. David Villa is line for his 100th MLS appearance. NYCFC has won two consecutive meetings against the Galaxy, including last year’s 2-0 win at StubHub Center.

Damian Calhoun is the Prep Sports Coordinator and writer for the Daily Breeze. He's also the soccer writer for the Southern California News Group, covering Major League Soccer and occasionally the U.S. national teams.